Bank of Italy hearing in parliament: «GDP 2024 +0.8%. With relief on work, the balance of the pension system is at risk. PSB not risk-free”, UPB: “Lack of information on expenses and coverage”

UPB is the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The growth target set by the government at 1% for this year is moving away, and finding the resources for the 2025 budget is becoming increasingly complicated. The cold shower on the government’s estimates comes during the hearings on the structural budget plan in Parliament: for Bank of Italy the 2024 GDP will stop at 0.8%, and also for the Parliamentary Budget Office the objective of 1% becomes more uncertain.

After the audit carried out by Istat, the growth target for 2024 set by the government at 1% “becomes more uncertain” because “the risks increase. We can expect a few tenths of a point less.” This is what the president of the PBO, Lilia Cavallari, underlined during a hearing on the PSB at the Budget commissions of the House and Senate. Speaking about the following years, Cavallari explained that the estimates are “subject to downward risks linked to geopolitical tensions”.

The PBO highlights that the PSB provides “deficient information on the consolidation strategy in relation to the main spending programs and sources of revenue”. “Even for the programmatic scenario there are shortcomings compared to the information usually reported in the Nadef”. “Medium-term planning would require highlighting the strategy for achieving the consolidation objectives with more detailed indications regarding the expected dynamics for the main spending programs and sources of revenue and the connection with the implementation of investments and reforms. This would further strengthen the credibility of the consolidation commitment,” underlines the Parliamentary Budget Office.